Ars Technica has the hopefully hopeful news that Valve has registered a
European trademark for Half-Life 3 to cover "Computer game software;
Electronic game software; Downloadable computer game software via a global
computer network and wireless devices; Video game software." This could just be
routine record-keeping, but it seems like Half-Life 3 might be the kind of thing
that would give a nice boost to the launch of SteamOS. Just sayin'.

Bring on HL3 w/Source Engine 2! I still remember watching the technology demo of the Source engine on a real demo like sample of HL2 potentials using it and it was mind blowing. I showed a friend the video and he forever became a PC gamer after that, lol.

Overon wrote on Oct 1, 2013, 21:19:I don't know where I read it, but someone suggested Valve charge full price for Half Life 3 on Windows Steam and release it for free on SteamOS. That would give SteamOS a big boost.

...or the other way around with people pirating it exactly because of that trick. Anyone remember Halo 2 and that it was only released for Windows Vista? I can't remember this giving Vista a big boost :)!

Cutter wrote on Oct 1, 2013, 21:13:I'm not hopeful about this. If it happens it happens, super. Otherwise forget it. Particularly if it's tied into needing their Steam OS and their gamepad or some such nonsense.

That won't happen. SteamOS is a free operating system and Steam Machines isn't a closed platform, so there is no money to be made tying it to either.

However, what we might see is HL3 given away for free or heavily discounted for people who buy Steam Machines and/or the Valve controller. Valve doesn't have any background in hardware so it would make sense to tie it to a valuable IP - giving it away for free with Steam Machines would tie people into the Steam platform, much like Amazon does with the Kindle Fire; giving it away or heavily discounting it with the Valve controller and adding exclusive features for it would get it into the homes of most serious Steam users.

I don't have any intention of buying a Steam Machine or using SteamOS but I would be interesting in picking up a Valve controller, especially if it is bundled with HL3.

Overon wrote on Oct 1, 2013, 21:19:I don't know where I read it, but someone suggested Valve charge full price for Half Life 3 on Windows Steam and release it for free on SteamOS. That would give SteamOS a big boost.

This sounds like a fairly realistic expectation. Making it exclusive to SteamOS and requiring you buy their hardware is asinine and would guarantee a failure. Whoever worries about that hypothetical scenario is insane.

Cutter wrote on Oct 1, 2013, 21:13:I'm not hopeful about this. If it happens it happens, super. Otherwise forget it. Particularly if it's tied into needing their Steam OS and their gamepad or some such nonsense. And even if it does get announced in the next year this is Valve we're talking about. So you'll likely be waiting several more years after that to boot.

Agreed. If it happens I'll take interest in it when it's released; until then Valve's development cycles are too sketchy to waste the energy caring.

I'm not hopeful about this. If it happens it happens, super. Otherwise forget it. Particularly if it's tied into needing their Steam OS and their gamepad or some such nonsense. And even if it does get announced in the next year this is Valve we're talking about. So you'll likely be waiting several more years after that to boot.

“That's it. You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college!”